


smile.

by darknightskye



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, They're both oblivious, mentions of al and winry, semi confessions, unintentionally sad ending, what if they had more time to talk while in gluttony’s stomach
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2020-01-14 15:50:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18479413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darknightskye/pseuds/darknightskye
Summary: What’s the worst that could happen, really? Getting eaten by Gluttony was already the worst part of the day. It couldn’t get worse.“Fine,” Ed now turned on his side to face the prince. “Your smile is nice.”A beat of silence made Ed think the day could get much worse.“Oh. Thank you.” Ed could see Ling averting his gaze, and he instantly wished the Earth would just swallow himself whole.





	smile.

The stomach of Gluttony. 

 

Sure, it was pretty gross — but at least Ed wasn’t alone there (he would have time to sort  _ those _ feelings out later.) He already transmuted a slab of iron above the blood, and was now in the process of eating boiled boot. 

 

Yeah, it was pretty gross. But it was food — and even though he and Ling weren’t too thrilled about it, they had to. 

 

“You know, I’m glad you’re an alchemist instead of a chef.” The prince said, placing his now empty bowl on the ground. 

 

“Are you telling me I couldn’t own a five star restaurant?” 

 

“Maybe if no one had taste buds,” Ling paused, opting to lay down on the slab. “Unfortunately I would still go.” 

 

“Wow, you’re so nice.” 

 

Ed finally finished his own bowl and pushed it to the side; he laid down on the space next to Ling, shutting his eyes for a bit. 

 

“I know. It’s not like you’d make money any other way.” He said with a laugh. Even though Ed had his eyes closed he could imagine Ling was wearing his usual smile again. 

 

In the past few hours(?) that the two had been stuck in Gluttony’s stomach both were, justifiably upset. They were frustrated, and hungry, and tired. But maybe a minute of rest would help a bit. Ed didn’t really like seeing him upset — anything but a smile on Ling’s face felt odd. 

 

Well really — Ed had no room to talk; smiles from him were few and far between since  _ that _ day. 

 

Caught up in his own thoughts, he didn’t notice the gap of silence between the two until Ling spoke up. 

 

“You alright?” 

 

Ed opened his eyes, glancing over towards Ling. No smile. Looking out at the pool of blood. 

 

“Yeah, just thinking.” Technically not a lie. 

 

“What about?” 

 

“It’s nothing.” 

 

“Come ooon, you can’t just say nothing. As long as we’re stuck here no secrets,” Ling turned on his side, now facing Ed. “Plus you were quiet for a good five minutes. Now I’m genuinely curious.” 

 

Friends could tell each other how nice their smiles were, right? And tell them how they would always want to keep them smiling? 

 

“ _ If Al and Winry were here they’d be losing their minds over this…”  _ Ed thought to himself. 

 

What’s the worst that could happen, really? Getting eaten by Gluttony was already the worst part of the day. It couldn’t get worse. 

 

“Fine,” Ed now turned on his side to face the prince. “Your smile is nice.” 

 

A beat of silence made Ed think the day could get much worse. 

 

“Oh. Thank you.” Ed could see Ling averting his gaze, and he instantly wished the Earth would just swallow himself whole. 

 

“Just, y’know. Thinking we’d be less pissed if none of this shit happened.” Hopefully Ling would buy it. 

 

“Yeah. Being stuck here is obviously less than ideal.” A sigh came from the prince. “It’s cold and disgusting — we have stuff we need to be doing. Lan-Fan is out there, and your brother too.” Ling sat up, and kept his eyes focused on the pool again. 

 

Ed followed this, sitting up next to him — giving one of his shoulders a reassuring pat.

 

“We’ll find a way out, I swear.”

 

Ling nodded, speaking in a quieter voice; “If anyone could find it, it would be you.” 

 

“ _ Okay, what’s that supposed to mean? _ ” Ed thought to himself again — he could figure it out later. If he tried now he’d risk looking like a lovestruck idiot — wait not love. They had known each other for a month at best. 

 

Before this could go any further Ed focused on something else Ling had said; he took off his black jacket. 

 

“Hey, said you were cold right?” Ed said, offering it to the prince. “Maybe if you wore a shirt you wouldn’t be.” 

 

He was still holding it out, but Ling hesitated. 

 

“I already ate your boot, I can’t take your jacket now too.” 

 

Ed could hear himself laugh. 

 

“It’s not like you’re gonna eat the jacket right? You can just give it back later.” 

 

And finally, Ling wore his usual smile. Ed really needed to figure out what this meant. 

 

“I don’t know, is cotton edible?” This lead to both having a good laugh — and Ed thought they deserved it. 

 

Ling was the one who broke the silence after they had calmed down; he scooted closer to Ed, and draped the jacket over both their shoulders. 

 

“We can just share for now. We need a minute to rest anyway, right?” 

 

Ed could feel his brain short circuiting — and yes, he knew what this meant. But now  _ definitely  _ wasn’t the time. He would have time to work this out after they got out. 

 

“Yeah, whatever.” 

 

While Ed was cold, his cheeks were the opposite. It shouldn’t have been that noticeable — and he just felt stupid for worrying. 

 

This whole situation felt stupid. He knew he liked Ling — and that’s fine, but what could come of it? Ling was trying to become the Emperor of Xing. And Ed needed to get Al’s and his bodies back. They both had more important things to worry about. 

 

But sitting on the slab, jacket shared, Ed leaned against Ling’s shoulder — he wished things could be different. Actually — all of this thinking and he didn’t even know how Ling felt. Maybe he should ask him? Not now obviously, but after — 

 

“Edward?” Ling’s voice broke his train of thought. 

 

“Yeah?” 

 

“What do you think you’re going to do after everything?” 

 

Ed just noticed that Ling’s arm had snaked its way around his waist. He felt heat rush to his face again; at least they were both warm now. 

 

“Once we get out of here? Definitely check up on Al, fix up his armor. If Gluttony’s still around kick his ass. The usual stuff.” 

 

Ling let out a small laugh, and Ed wanted to ram his own face into the ground. Why couldn’t he realize this all before? He could have been good at masking his feelings already. 

 

“Actually, I meant once you get your bodies back. And fix your corrupt country.” 

 

“Oh.” 

 

Ed actually needed a minute to think — he never really thought of that before. All his and Al’s lives had been for the past few years was the military. Anything outside of that kind of felt like a pipedream. 

 

He thought of moving back to Resembool maybe — it’d be nice to settle down and relax for a while. But on second thought — he had gotten so used to traveling that settling down felt a bit odd. Traveling would be nice, maybe even to other countries. 

 

Like Xing.

 

“Well,” after a few moments of silence, Ed spoke up again. “We both know starting a restaurant is out of the picture.” 

 

That earned another laugh from Ling, which in turn made Ed laugh — contemplating what to say next. 

 

He could tell Ling the truth. Ling was one of the few people that Ed could just, feel normal around? Everything felt natural — they could be yelling at each other one minute, and working together the next. 

 

Plus he never really had friends aside from Winry and Al — and he didn’t always tell them every little doubt he had. 

 

But Ling didn’t mind. 

 

That’s what friends did — and Ed didn’t want to risk that going away over some dumb feelings. 

 

“Actually,” he started again. “I haven’t thought much about it. The military is all I’ve known since I was twelve. But maybe I’ll travel? It’d be nice to do that on my own accord instead of the military telling me where to go.” 

 

Ling’s hand left his waist, instead moving next to Ed’s hand on the ground between them. Inching closer, slowly — together.

 

Ed was the one to intertwine their fingers — acting against his brain. But Ling gave his hand (non auto mail) a small squeeze — Ed could make out a smile on his lips, and color on his cheeks. 

 

“Once I’m emperor there will always be somewhere for you to stay in Xing.” 

 

Now Ed could feel his heart beat in his throat. There was no other possible way that sentence could be taken, right? 

 

Ling was holding his hand and just told Ed he could always stay with him. Thinking again to Winry and Al; they would smack him if he didn’t take this opportunity to ask. 

 

“Hey, Ling?” Ed looked to his — now one — boot. 

 

“Hm?”

 

“I know it hasn’t been super long, but. Uh,” He could get through this. “There’s, this thing between us, yeah? I don’t know how to describe it, but. Yeah. You know what I mean, right?” 

 

Ling gave his hand another squeeze. 

 

“Wow, does  _ the _ Fullmetal Alchemist have a crush?” 

 

“Shut up, idiot! Maybe I do.” 

 

Just thinking about it made his cheeks heat up, but talking about it made Ed feel like he was going to explode. 

 

But feeling a peck on his cheek just made him melt. His eyes darted to Ling, who was now fiddling with his hair ribbon. 

 

“Well then, maybe I do too.” 

 

“S-Sooo…” Ed stammered. “Does this mean—“ 

 

“Hey! It’s the Fullmetal Pipsqueak!” A new voice interrupted; from the insult, Ed could immediately tell that it was Envy. 

 

He darted up from the slab, Ling followed suit — but held Ed back by the arm before they could both charge at the Homunculus, saying with his usual smile again; (Ed couldn’t help but think how much he loved that smile.) 

 

“Don’t worry, we can talk about it later.” 

 

 

* * *

 

 

As Ed saw the Ouroboros tattoo appear on Ling’s hand, he knew.

 

There wouldn’t be any time later. 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you to the wonderful krispy for the commission!! <3
> 
> also these two prove that u can be both moron and morosexual  
> please Give Me Your  
> Kudos 
> 
>  
> 
> twitter: @vsoftpunk


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